Count to answer "how many?"Â questions about as many as 20 things arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered configuration; given a number from 1-20, count out that many objects.

Problem of the Day

5 minutes

I start the lesson with a problem of the day to help students review skills and concepts from prior lessons and develop their ability to problem solve. I call the students up to the carpet. The students find their spots while saying this chant with me.

I project the Problem of the Day on the SMART Board and say to students, "This is our Problem of the Day for today. Look at the picture. This says 'Count the turkeys. Count the barns. Which group has less?'" I say, "This problem has three parts. What is the first thing it asks us to do?" (Count the turkeys.) I have a student come up, count the turkeys and write the number on the line. "Listen to the direction again. 'Count the turkeys. Count the barns. Which group has less?' What do we need to do next?" (Count the barns.) I have a student come up, count the barns and write the number on the line. "Listen to the direction again. 'Count the turkeys. Count the barns. Which group has less?' What do we need to do next?" (Tell which group has less.) I have a student tell which group has less and explain how they know.

If you don't have a SMARTBoard, you can use the pdf copy of the slides in a variety of ways to reproduce this activity.

I tell students, "Today we will continue to learn about numbers. We are going to practice writing the numbers 4 and 5."

Problem of the Day 24 Slides

Problem of the Day 24 Notebook File

Presentation of Lesson

25 minutes

For this lesson, I start with students at their seats. I draw 4 dots on a white board and ask students to count the dots with me. I then write the number 4 on the board. I tell students, "This is a number 4." I continue with number 5. I tell students that today we will be practicing writing the numbers 4 and 5 on our tables with shaving cream. I review our rules for shaving cream.

The shaving cream must remain on the table at all times.

No pounding to make the shaving cream splash.

Only touch your own shaving cream.

When your shaving cream disappears, you are done.

I put a very small dab of shaving cream in front of each student. This activity is only meant to last about 5 minutes, so I give only a small amount so that it will disappear quickly. I tell the students not to touch it until everyone has some. When all students have some shaving cream, I call out a number for the students to write. I focus on 4 and 5, but I also include 1, 2, and 3 as a review. As we write it, we repeat our number chants.

4- Down and over and down some more, that's the way we make a four.5- Straight line down, then around. Hat on top and five's a clown.

I continue until the students' shaving cream starts to disappear. I have the students rub their hands over their tables until all of the shaving cream is gone. I tell students that we will also be practicing the numbers 4 and 5 on a Writing Numbers 4 and 5 Review Worksheet. I show students the paper and say, "You are going to be working on this paper on your own after we go over the directions. You need to get out your pencil and put your name on your paper. When your name is on your paper hold your pencil in the air, that will let me know that you are ready to start." I like to have students hold up their pencils or put their hands on their heads when they are finished with a task. It makes it easy for me to see who is ready and also keeps the students from writing all over their papers while they wait for other students to finish.

I hand each student a paper for them to take back to their seats and while the students are writing their names, I turn on the projector and document camera and display the worksheet on the SMARTBoard. When all students have their pencils up, I say, "The directions on this paper say ‘Trace and write the numbers.' The directions for the bottom of the paper are the same as your paper yesterday. They say, 'Count the objects. Write the number.' You may work on the worksheet on your own." When the students are finished, they put their papers into the paper tray in the front of the classroom and get their center.

Writing Numbers 4 and 5 Review Worksheet

Shaving Cream Numbers Four & Five

Practice

Since the students finish their papers at different times, I circulate through the room to make sure that students are completing their papers, putting it in the tray and getting their centers. This week's centers are:

I quickly circulate to make sure students are engaged and do not have any questions about how to complete the centers. I pull three groups during centers. I pull the first group for 10 minutes and the other two groups for 5 minutes each. The first group is comprised of the students who were having trouble identifying numbers 1,2, and 3 and matching the numbers to objects. I have a basic idea of who I want in each group based on my beginning of the year assessment on numbers and counting, but I also take into account how the students did in the whole group lesson. I pull the students back to my small group table to do a reteach activity using flash cards and manipulatives (for this lesson I used cookie counters). I show the flash cards and have students practice identifying the numbers. I then give each student a pile of manipulatives (1-5) and have them pick the number card that matches their group. Today I use Giant Tracing Numbers from Lakeshore that the students can trace on with a dry erase maker. The next two groups do a follow up activity that reviews identifying numbers, counting objects. I use the flash cards and manipulatives with these groups as well. I start by showing the students flash cards again and having them practice identifying the numbers. I do this much quicker for these groups. I then give each student a pile of manipulatives (1-5) and have them write the number on a white board. Prior to clean up, I check in with each table to see how the centers are going. I turn on Tidy Up by Dr. Jean.

There are many wonderful transition songs to be found, for free, online if you'd like to use music for transitions too.

Students clean up and return to their seats.

Thumb Print Counting

Closing

5 minutes

I close this lesson by inviting students back up to the carpet. I turn on the SMARTBoard and let one of the students who did well writing 4 and 5 come up and show us how to write a 4 and 5. As they write, I have the other students say the number rhymes with me. I mention positive things that I noticed during centers. I also include something that needs to be better next time. I review what we did during our whole group lesson. "Today we learned how to write the numbers 4 and 5. How do we remember how to write a four?" (Down and over and down some more, that's the way we make a four.) "A five?" (Straight line down, then around. Hat on top and five's a clown.) "Let's count to 5 together." 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 "Tomorrow, we are going to learn to learn about my favorite number 0!"